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Obstacles  mid  the  Encouniscinciits 


MISSIONARY  EFFORT, 


IN  THE 

ANCIENT  AND  MODERN  CHURCH. 


j 

j 

I 


A LECTURE  DELIVERED  BEFORE  THE  BOSTON  YOUNG  MEN’S  SOCIETY  .-‘A; 
FOR  THE  DIFFUSION  OF  MISSIONARY  KNOWLEDGE. 


SAMUEL  W.JHS 

West  Bloomfield,  New  Jersey. 


PUBLISHED  BY 


THE 


Obstacles  and  the  Encouragements 


TO 


MISSIONARY  EFFORT, 

IN  THE 

ANCIENT  AND  MODERN  CHURCH. 


A LECTURE  DELIVERED  BEFORE  THE  BOSTON  YOUNG  MEN’S  SOCIETY 
FOR  DIFFUSING  MISSIONARY  KNOWLEDGE. 


BY  SAMUEL  W.  FISHER, 

West  Bloomfield,  New  Jersey. 


PUBLISHED  BY  REQUEST. 


BOSTON: 

TAPPAN  AND  DENNET. 


M DCCC  XLII. 


This  address  was  originally  prepared  for  the  Society  of  Inquiry  of  the 
Union  Theological  Seminary,  New  York,  and  delivered  before  that  Society 
at  its  last  Anniversary.  It  has  since  been  somewhat  modified,  and  de- 
livered before  the  Boston  Young  Men’s  Society  for  Diffusing  Missionary 
Knowledge.  It  is  now  published,  with  the  consent  of  the  Committee  of 
Publication  of  the  Society  of  Inquiry,  in  the  more  complete  form  in  which 
it  was  delivered,  before  the  Society  for  Diffusing  Missionary  Knowledge. 


WM.  WHITE  & H.  P.  LEWIS, 
PRINTERS, 

OVER  BOSTON  TYPE  FOUNDRY,  SPRING  LANE. 


ADDRESS. 


At  the  first  promulgation  of  a system  of  opin- 
ions, that  is  designed  vitally  to  affect  the  character 
and  happiness  of  vast  multitudes,  there  is  usually 
room  for  much  uncertainty,  doubt,  and  unbelief. 
Its  power  to  effect  the  objects,  for  which  it  is  pro- 
mulged,  is  yet  to  be  tested.  However  fair  in  the- 
ory, it  may  yet  be  found,  like  thousands  of  other 
systems  of  faith,  utterly  defective  in  its  practical 
working.  But  where  time  has  evinced  its  capac- 
ity to  accomplish  results  of  the  noblest  character ; 
when  success  has  given  to  that,  which  was  once  a 
theory,  all  the  certainty  of  a law  of  nature  ; then 
the  season  for  doubt  is  past ; then,  when  the 
capacity  to  overcome  obstacles  has  been  fairly 
developed,  faith,  unappalled  by  the  presence  of 
stupendous  difficulties,  rises  into  the  calm  confi- 
dence of  perfect  assurance.  To  this  stage  in  her 
progress  has  Christianity  attained.  The  conver- 
sion of  the  world,  the  grand  object  which  it  pro- 


4 


poses,  is  not  a problem  to  be  solved  by  future 
success.  Religion  has  already  evinced  its  capac- 
ity to  effect  so  vast  a work ; it  is  not  a novelty, 
thrown  as  a meteor  upon  the  world.  We  are  not 
launching,  Columbus-like,  on  an  unknown  sea, 
in  search  of  an  unknown  land.  Our  faith  is  one 
of  centuries.  It  has  passed  through  trials  of 
the  severest  character,  and  come  out  of  them 
unscathed.  It  has  effected  great  things.  Its  tri- 
umphs stand  out  on  the  records  of  the  world,  like 
a succession  of  splendid  miracles.  The  early 
history  of  Christianity,  anterior  to  the  full  devel- 
opment of  the  papacy,  rouses  the  soul  like  a 
clarion. 

In  judging,  however,  of  the  church,  as  it  existed 
at  that  day,  we  are  frequently  subject  to  an  illu- 
sion of  the  most  discouraging  character.  Distance 
contracts  ages  to  a point.  The  bold  and  splendid 
results  are  seen,  while  the  means,  by  which  they 
were  attained,  are  either  wholly  overlooked,  or 
regarded  as  supernatural,  and  beyond  the  reach  of 
the  present  age.  We  see  the  disciples  battling 
with  Judaism,  and  hear  the  cries  of  dying  martyrs; 
we  see  in  motion  the  machinery  of  gifts  miracu- 
lous and  wbnderful ; presently  the  shoutings  of 
victory  swell  upon  the  ear,  and  the  empire  is  the 
home  of  our  faith.  But  we  forget  the  ages  of  toil 
that  elapsed  ere  that  grand  event  was  reached ; 
we  overlook  the  ten  thousand  humble  instrumen- 
talities,— such  as  the  meanest  Christian  may  wield 
at  this  day, — through  which  the  victory  was  main- 


ly  achieved.  The  splendor  of  apostolic  gifts, 
which  in  fact  continued  only  for  a brief  period, 
seems  to  rest  upon  the  church  during  the  time  of 
her  travail ; while  the  faith,  the  patience,  the  sim- 
ple preaching  of  the  Gospel,  the  toil  that  knew 
no  weariness,  and  the  love  that  never  faltered, 
through  which  the  work  was  actually  consummat- 
ed, are  either  not  regarded  at  all,  or  considered 
to  be  light-armed  auxiliaries  to  the  solid  phalanx 
of  apostolic  powers.  As  the  natural  result  of 
such  impressions,  there  exists  an  opinion  that  the 
first  three  centuries  of  Christianity  constituted  its 
golden  age;  that  the  Church  was  then  in  posses- 
sion of  resources  vastly  more  effective  than  those 
now  in  her  hands ; and  that  the  obstacles  which 
then  opposed  her  progress,  were  neither  so  great 
in  themselves,  nor  so  numerous  as  those  which 
exist  at  the  present  day.  That  such  an  opinion 
is  not,  in  every  respect,  warranted  by  the  facts, 
Ave  think  can  easily  be  shown.  This  will  be  mani- 
fest from  an  attentive  comparison  of  the  obstacles 
to  the  success  of  the  Gospel  in  these  different  periods, 
and  the  means  possessed  by  the  Church  for  over- 
coming them. 

In  prosecuting  this  comparison,  it  will  only  be 
necessary  to  allude  to  that  deep-seated  depravity, 
which  constitutes  in  itself  the  greatest  obstacle  to 
the  advance  of  the  Gospel.  This  force  of  evil  has 
lived  and  worked  in  every  period  of  man’s  history. 
Time,  that  changes  and  modifies  all  else,  has 
wrought  no  change  here.  It  pervades  all  hu- 


6 


man  society ; it  tenants  the  rude  hut  of  the 
savage ; it  dwells  amid  the  groves  of  science 
and  the  palaces  of  art;  nor  is  it  wholly  absent 
from  the  temples  and  the  altars  of  a Christian 
people.  It  gives  to  error  its  force,  to  supersti- 
tion its  perpetuity,  to  all  the  influences  hostile  to 
Christianity,  their  living  vigor.  It  is  peculiar  to 
no  age,  to  no  people,  to  no  clime.  In  it  religion 
expects  ever  to  find  a foe  unconquerable  as  death, 
and  immortal  as  time. 

It  is  equally  unnecessary  for  me  to  dwell  on 
that  spiritual  organization — mysterious  to  the 
Christian,  the  theme  of  ridicule  to  the  world — 
which  the  Scriptures  announce  to  us  as  most  pow- 
erful in  giving  scope  to  human  depravity,  and  in 
wielding  the  forces  of  evil  against  the  cross.  In 
common  with  the  ancient  Christian,  we  fight  with 
principalities  and  powers  in  high  places,  and  un- 
til the  mighty  angel  shall  descend,  to  bind  the 
prince  and  scatter  his  legions,  the  Church  must 
expect  to  meet  now,  as  in  apostolic  times,  forces 
equipped,  organized,  and  led  on,  by  a chief  who 
once  shone  the  morning  star  of  heaven’s  intelli- 
gences. 

The  power  of  the  Gospel  to  surmount  these 
prime  obstacles  has  always  been  the  same.  The 
agency  of  the  Spirit  and  the  Gospel  are  ever  with 
her.  And  I dismiss  this  point  with  the  remark, 
that,  as  the  miracle-working  power,  in  all  pro- 
bability, did  not  pass  far  if  at  all  beyond  the  age 
of  the  apostles,  the  early  Church,  for  the  last 


7 


two  hundred  years  of  its  fierce  and  bloody  strug- 
gle, was  thrown  upon  precisely  the  same  re- 
sources, with  those  now  possessed  by  the  modern 
Church — the  common  influences  of  the  Spirit 
enforcing  the  Gospel. 

Let  us  now  compare  the  relative  situation  of 
the  Church  to  the  governments  of  the  world, 
during  the  first  three  centuries  of  her  existence, 
and  at  the  present  time.  In  looking  back  upon 
the  ancient  Church,  we  are  at  once  struck  by  the 
fact,  that  she  had  to  do  mainly  with  one  immense 
government.  While  it  is  possible  that  her  mis- 
sionaries may  have  passed  the  Euphrates  or  even 
the  Indus,  it  is  certain  that  the  Roman  empire 
was  their  great  field  of  conflict.  That  empire 
was  now  in  the  zenith  of  her  glory.  Its  bounda- 
ries swept  around  all  the  mighty  kingdoms  that 
live  in  the  ancient  records  of  our  race.  Her 
eagle,  in  its  immense  gyrations,  spread  its  wing 
over  the  civilized  world.  The  empires  of  an- 
tiquity, the  world  of  knowledge  and  of  civiliza- 
tion, all  lay  panting  beneath  the  foot  of  Rome. 

At  this  period  of  her  history,  the  power  of  the 
empire  had  in  reality  passed  away  from  the  Senate. 
It  was  all  concentred  in  a single  arm.  A single 
mind  directed  the  movements  of  this  huge  gov- 
ernment ; a single  hand  wielded  the  energies  of 
the  millions  that  paid  tribute  to  Rome.  So  per- 
fect was  this  power,  the  slightest  whisper  of  that 
mind  could  be  heard  in  the  remotest  corner  of 
the  empire ; the  wave  of  that  hand  was  instantly 


8 


seen  and  felt  in  the  forests  of  Britain,  on  the 
sands  of  Libya,  and  along  the  banks  of  the  Eu- 
phrates. The  mighty  despot  reached  forth  ten 
thousand  arms  to  execute  his  imperial  will.  The 
engines  of  his  power  were  set  up  in  every  prov- 
ince, in  every  city,  in  every  sequestered  vale  of 
human  habitation.  While,  to  curb  the  lawless- 
ness of  such  colossal  greatness,  the  moral  power 
of  the  opinion  of  the  world,  which  now  operates 
so  effectually  upon  the  proudest  thrones,  had  then 
no  force.  From  the  decree  of  this  tremendous 
despotism  there  was  no  appeal,  save  to  the  high 
chancery  of  heaven. 

It  was  in  the  bosom  of  such  an  empire  that 
Christianity  arose.  For  the  first  few  years,  it 
was  suffered  to  work  its  way  silently  and  freely. 
Rome  as  yet  understood  not  its  character.  To 
her  it  was  but  one  of  a thousand  religions.  Tibe- 
rius does  not  hesitate  to  provide  a niche  in  the 
Pantheon  for  Jesus  Christ.  The  opposition  it 
encountered,  sprang  from  the  Jew,  the  Pagan 
priest  and  philosopher,  rather  than  from  the  im- 
perial government.  It  was  not  long,  however, 
before  the  clamors  of  the  idolatrous  multitude 
entered  the  palace  of  the  Caesars.  Whatever 
may  have  been  the  proximate  causes,  which  at 
particular  seasons  kindled  the  fires  of  persecution, 
the  grand  cause  of  their  existence  is  obvious.  It 
consisted  in  the  total  opposition  existing  between 
the  principles  of  Christianity,  and  the  worship, 
the  customs,  the  character  of  the  influential  por- 


9 


tion  of  the  empire.  Christianity  undeified  their 
gods,  dashed  down  their  idols,  overturned  their 
altars,  anathematized  their  priests,  and  cast  con- 
tempt on  whatever  was  most  sacred,  most  ancient, 
most  admired.  Then  began  to  lower  those  storms, 
which,  with  some  short  intervals  of  repose,  for  two 
hundred  and  fifty  years,  Hashed  and  thundered 
along  the  Christian’s  path.  From  these,  escape 
was  impossible.  Should  the  unhappy  victim  re- 
tire into  some  remote  corner  of  the  empire?  But 
the  edict  of  destruction  had  anticipated  his  flight, 
and  where  he  hoped  for  safety,  he  met  the  iron 
grasp  of  a Roman  prefect.  Wherever  the  Christ- 
ian turned,  the  same  dark  form  Avas  frowning 
upon  him  ; the  cries  of  martyrs,  mingled  Avith  the 
shouts  of  the  amphitheatre,  ever  rang  in  his  ear. 
There  Avas,  then,  no  sacred  home  of  freedom  to 
which  the  oppressed  might  flee.  The  world  Avas 
one  vast  empire,  and  the  tremendous  enginery  of 
its  power  Avas  everyAvhere  in  motion,  for  nearly 
three  centuries,  to  uproot  the  cross.  Such  Avas 
the  nature  of  that  governmental  opposition,  against 
Avhich  the  feeble  band  of  early  Christians  fought, 
and  over  Avhich  they  triumphed. 

Compare  Avith  this  the  situation  of  our  modern 
Church.  The  civilized  Avorld  is  iioav  divided 
into  a number  of  independent  sovereignties.  Of 
these,  several  are  on  the  side  of  Protestant  Christ- 
ianity. And  Avhen  I say  they  are  on  the  side  of 
true  Christianity,  it  is  meant  either  that  their 
governments  explicitly  recognise  it  as  the  relig- 
2 


10 


ion  of  the  state,  as  in  England,  or  that  the  great 
mass  of  those,  who  create  the  government,  and 
of  those  who  constitute  it,  are  avowedly  believers 
in  the  Christian  revelation.  Of  these  nations, 
Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  are  the 
most  powerful,  and  most  decidedly  influential,  in 
promoting  the  evangelization  of  the  world.  They 
embosom  the  wealth  and  the  piety  which  are  to 
carry  the  Gospel  to  every  land,  and  resusitate  the 
half  extinguished  fires  of  true  religion  on  the 
altars  of  nominal  Christendom.  In  general  in- 
fluence upon  the  world  at  large,  no  other  nation 
can  come  into  comparison  with  them.  The  com- 
merce of  the  world,  now  one  of  the  most  effective 
chains  of  brotherhood,  and  destined  to  exert  a 
mighty  influence  in  the  overthrow  of  supersti- 
tion, barbarism,  and  ignorance,  is  in  their  hands. 
Their  fleets  are  in  every  sea ; their  warehouses 
in  every  port ; their  representatives  are  found 
wherever  there  is  wealth  to  be  gathered,  or  a 
government  to  be  influenced  by  their  presence. 

Nor  is  this  all.  Millions  of  the  heathen  world 
are  directly  subject  to  one  of  these  governments. 
Great  Britain,  for  the  last  tAvo  hundred  years, 
has  been  advancing  in  the  career  of  conquest,  un- 
til her  subjects  have  multiplied  from  a dozen  to 
more  than  a hundred  and  fifty  millions ; her  pos- 
sessions have  expanded  from  that  little  central 
isle  until  they  gird  the  globe  ; and,  from  holding 
as  a feudal  lord  the  throne  of  England,  she  has 
placed  her  foot  upon  the  neck  of  empires  vast, 


11 


populous,  and  ancient.  But  yesterday,  you  heard 
the  roar  of  her  cannon  before  Beyrout ; and  every 
breeze  that  sweeps  westward,  bears  to  us  the 
thundering  of  her  artillery  upon  the  commercial 
metropolis  of  China. 

The  effect  of  this  general  influence,  we  doubt 
not,  is  greatly  to  the  advantage  of  Christianity. 
That  this  happy  result  has  been  diminished  by 
the  presence  of  great  evils,  is  not  to  be  denied. 
Commerce,  mainly  employing  as  its  instruments, 
those  who  have  no  sympathy  with  the  religion  of 
the  cross ; conquests  originating  in  an  all-grasping 
avarice  or  ambition  ; won  by  the  sacrifice  of  holo- 
causts of  human  victims  on  the  altar  of  war;  and 
maintained  by  a system  of  oppression,  which  de- 
liberately weighs  the  happiness  of  millions  of 
immortal  minds  in  the  balance  with  gold,  all 
tend,  in  some  respects,  to  weaken  the  influence  of 
Christianity  on  the  conscience  of  the  Pagan.  Yet, 
in  spite  of  these  counteracting  causes,  there  has 
gone  forth,  and  is  going  forth,  from  this  very 
commerce,  and  these  vast  conquests,  an  influence 
which  is  destined,  we  believe,  to  revolutionize 
the  world.  Already  have  they  brought  whole 
nations,  while  they  feel  the  force  of  our  arms,  to 
respect  our  religion.  They  have  opened  more 
extensive  fields  of  labor  before  the  missionaries, 
and  they  have  also  given  them  security,  so  that 
the  name  of  either  an  Englishman  or  an  Ameri- 
can, has  been  a charm  more  potent  than  was 
anciently  that  of  a Roman  citizen. 


12 


Casting  our  eyes  beyond  the  governments  di- 
rectly under  the  control  of  Protestant  influence, 
we  see  a number  of  states,  nominally  Christian, 
yet  so  sunk  in  gross  superstition  as  to  possess  little 
of  Christianity  besides  the  name. 

In  respect  to  most  of  them,  one  fact  is  worthy 
of  our  notice.  The  principles  of  Christian  tole- 
ration are  working  their  way  into  their  courts, 
and  modifying  the  whole  machinery  of  their 
governments.  Nations,  which  a century  ago, 
expelled  Protestantism  from  their  shores,  now 
receive  it  with  open  arms,  or  suffer  it  to  carry 
forward  its  peaceful  work  unchecked.  The  spec- 
tacle of  religious  persecution  in  any  country,  no 
matter  what  may  be  the  sufferer’s  faith,  now  in- 
terests and  arouses  the  civilized  world.  That 
which,  a few  years  ago,  was  made  a part  of  the 
ordinary  business  of  some  governments,  would 
now  outrage  the  moral  feelings  of  civilized  soci- 
ety. Austria  cannot  even  exile  her  inquiring 
peasantry,  far  less  torture  them  at  the  rack,  or 
burn  them  at  the  stake ; nay,  even  despotic  Tur- 
key may  not  bastinado  a poor  Jew,  on  account  of 
his  faith,  without  calling  forth  indignant  remon- 
strance, long  and  loud,  from  every  part  of  Chris- 
tendom. To  this  great  end  also  have  those  polit- 
ical revolutions  been  working,  which  of  late  have 
shaken  so  many  thrones,  and  burst  so  many  chains. 
While  they  have  given  to  subjects  a higher  polit- 
ical importance,  they  have  infused  into  proud 
rulers  a salutary  caution  how  they  tread  upon 


13 


those  most  sacred  jewels  of  liberty — the  rights 
of  conscience. 

In  this  steady  advance  of  the  principles  of  tole- 
ration among  civilized  states,  Christianity  has  rea- 
son for  present  joy  and  future  hope ; for  the 
prevalence  of  such  opinions  is  both  the  sign  of 
the  silent  influence  she  has  already  gained,  and 
the  foundation  on  which  she  can  proceed  to  re- 
build her  decaying  temples,  and  reopen  her  smoul- 
dering fires,  among  the  nations  only  nominally 
her  friends.  What,  I ask,  has  created  this  power 
of  public  opinion,  before  which  the  sceptres  of 
kings  are  lowered  ? What  has  brought  it  about 
that  governments,  whose  grand  argument  was  the 
sword  in  every  contest  of  right,  are  now  compelled 
to  respect  the  opinion  of  the  great  family  of  Christ- 
ian states?  JNT either  the  increased  facilities  of 
national  intercourse,  nor  the  progress  of  civiliza- 
tion, nor  the  terrific  march  of  revolution,  alone  or 
combined,  could  have  effected  it,  had  not  a purer 
Christianity,  breathed  around  the  loftiest  thrones 
the  mild  spirit  of  religion,  inspiring  a state  of 
public  feeling  in  which  might  can  no  longer  pass 
as  the  synonyme  of  right,  brute  force  as  the 
strongest  argument  of  justice. 

Under  these  better  influences,  the  most  bigoted 
governments  are  relaxing  the  strictness  of  their 
ecclesiastical  regimen.  Spain,  proud  and  lordly 
in  her  rags,  whose  bigotry  reared  and  perfected 
the  horrid  Inquisition,  whose  fields  wrere  fertilized 
by  the  ashes,  and  her  broad  rivers  dyed  with  the 
blood  of  innumerable  martyrs,  Avhose  records  are 


14 


a history  of  intolerance,  written  in  characters  of 
blood  and  fire,  and  over  whom,  as  the  result  of 
that  stern  bigotry,  there  have  brooded  centuries 
of  dense  darkness, — even  she  has  at  last  burst 
her  chains.  The  Bible  is  read  on  her  sunny  hills; 
a highway,  broad  and  free,  is  rising  for  the  chariot 
of  the  Prince  of  peace. 

If  now  we  bring  into  view  the  Pagan  and  Mu- 
hammedon  world,  the  same  great  fact,  with  an 
occasional  exception,  is  proved  to  be  true.  Gov- 
ernmental opposition  is  gradually  relaxing  its 
strictness  under  the  general  influence  of  the  civil- 
ized. Egypt  and  the  wide  dependencies  of  Tur- 
key are  opening  their  ports  to  the  Christian 
missionary.  Nor  should  we  be  surprised  were 
the  decree  of  death,  fulminated  by  the  Koran 
against  the  apostate  from  Islamism,  ere  long  to 
become  a dead  statute  into  which  no  earthly 
power  dare  breathe  life.  The  sceptre  of  Protes- 
tant England  stretches  over  a hundred  millions 
of  the  worshippers  of  Brahma.  From  the  Ganges 
to  the  Indus,  from  Travaneore  to  Cashmere,  that 
vast,  populous,  ancient  land,  crowded  with  vil- 
lages, teeming  with  a luxuriant  vegetation,  is 
open  to  correct  religious  influences.  Beyond  it 
is  China ; an  empire  which  no  Christian  can  con- 
template in  the  greatness  of  its  extent,  its  high 
antiquity,  the  immense  masses  of  immortal  beings 
that  swarm  in  its  cities  and  darken  its  waters,  and 
in  that  stubborn  exclusion,  mingled  with  affected 
contempt,  of  all  those  foreign  influences  which 


15 


might  work  out  the  elevation  and  salvation  of 
the  people,  without  being  moved  to  wonder,  to 
pity,  and  almost  to  despair. 

Even  here,  however,  are  the  dawnings  of  better 
days.  Around  that  vast  empire  there  are  cluster- 
ing mighty  influences,  from  all  quarters  of  the 
globe,  which,  like  the  atmosphere,  she  cannot  ex- 
clude, and  before  which  her  iron  institutions  must 
ere  long  he  greatly  modified,  or  crumble  to  utter 
ruin.  It  is  impossible  for  the  utmost  power  of  the 
mightiest  human  will  to  give  eternity  to  such  in- 
stitutions, when  the  whole  world  is  rushing  by 
them  in  a swift  and  broad  tide  of  improvement. 
Yield  they  must  to  the  accumulating  pressure. 
Her  only  hope,  for  the  perpetuity  of  her  present 
institutions,  is  a wall  of  entire  non-intercourse 
with  the  whole  world ; higher,  broader,  more  im- 
passable than  that  monument  of  industrious  folly 
reared  against  the  Tartar  horde,  while  millions 
of  her  people,  beyond  her  control,  are  subject  to 
the  influence  of  Christianity ; while  she,  herself, 
is  encompassed  with  the  commerce  of  civilized 
states ; and  while  she  is  obliged  occasionally  to 
quail  before  the  barbarian  power,  so  long  will  she 
be  exposed  to  a revolution,  which  will  shake  her 
government  to  the  ground.  Nor  need  we  wait 
long  for  decided  changes  in  her  policy.  Let  the 
influences  which  but  recently  have  begun  to  sur- 
round her,  operate  with  constantly  increasing 
force  for  less  than  half  a century,  and  we  shall  not 
want  the  pen  of  heaven- wrapt  Isaiah  to  predict  the 
fall  of  this  greater  Babjdon. 


16 


In  whatever  light,  therefore,  we  compare  the 
situation  of  Christianity,  in  respect  to  the  govern- 
ments of  the  world  at  the  present  time,  with  that 
of  the  first  ages  of  the  Church,  we  find  every 
thing  to  encourage  us.  Here  she  has  gained 
vastly  in  the  struggle  of  eighteen  hundred  years. 
We  have  come  out  of  the  caves  and  forests  where 
the  ancients  were  hunted.  The  mightiest  gov- 
ernments are  ours.  Even  the  progress  of  free 
institutions,  the  political  convulsions  and  the  wide- 
spread revolutions,  which  are  giving  freedom  to 
rising  humanity,  are  either  bearing  onward  the 
car  of  life,  or  rearing  up  broad  highways,  on 
which  it  may  roll  over  the  world. 

Our  next  point  of  comparison,  between  the 
ancient  and  modern  Church,  respects  the  systems 
of  religion  they  have  respectively  to  encounter. 
Two  large  and  ancient  religions,  the  one  of  the 
Jew,  the  other  of  the  Pagan,  in  the  days  of  early 
Christianity,  as  now,  resisted  the  advance  of  the 
Gospel,  with  an  uncompromising  and  vigorous 
hostility.  The  Jew  was  the  first  great  opponent 
of  the  cross.  The  early  propagators  of  our  faith, 
struck  at  this  system  with  far  greater  success  than 
has  the  Church  since  that  period.  The  very 
origin  of  Christianity  then  gave  it  a power  the 
course  of  time  has  partially  destroyed.  It  sprang 
out  of  the  bosom  of  Israel ; it  grew  up  beside 
their  altar  and  their  temple ; its  most  thrilling 
scenes  were  enacted  on  that  sacred  soil,  bedewed 
with  the  tears  and  blood  of  the  faithful,  vocal 


17 


with  the  inspirations  of  holy  seers,  hallowed  by 
the  flaming  shekinah,  the  splendid  worship,  the 
visible  foot-prints  of  the  dread  Jehovah  impressed 
on  every  hill  and  vale.  It  was  not  a foreign  relig- 
ion. It  was  the  offspring  of  their  own  worship, 
the  fulfillment  of  their  prophecies,  the  grand 
and  crowning  scene  toward  which  for  ages  their 
hopes,  their  prayers,  their  joys,  their  bloody  wor- 
ship, had  all  been  pointing.  The  prime  actor  in 
it  was  of  the  kingly  house  of  David.  Its  great 
apostles  were  sons  of  Abraham.  To  the  Jew,  in 
whose  veins  flowed  the  blood  of  their  illustrious 
sire,  with  Avhom  they  Avorshipped  at  the  same 
altar,  breathing  Avith  them  from  childhood’s  hour 
the  inspiration  of  their  glorious  history,  they 
could  preach  of  the  Messiah  Avith  a force  hardly 
to  be  reached  by  the  Church  at  this  day.  Christ- 
ianity has  passed  aAvay  from  the  country  and  the 
nation  of  its  earliest  love.  Its  dAvelling-place  is 
Avith  the  Gentile,  Avho  for  centuries  has  ground 
the  outcast  and  saddened  Israelite  beneath  the 
iron  heel  of  a despotic  poAver.  In  the  vieAV  of 
that  doAvn-trodden  nation,  all  the  prejudices  of  an 
abhorred,  a foreign  superstition,  cluster  around 
the  Christian  religion. 

There  Avas  much,  also,  in  the  time  when 
Christianity  first  arose,  that  then  gave  it  poAver 
over  this  race.  It  appeared  at  a time  Avhen  the 
lines  of  a long  series  of  most  splendid  prophecies, 
Avhich  for  ages  had  been  converging,  seemed  to 
have  reached  the  point  of  fulfillment.  The  poAver 
3 


18 


of  Rome  hung  over  the  sacred  land,  and  they 
knew  not  how  soon  its  black,  dense  clouds  would 
pour  down  their  sheets  of  flame.  The  bosom  of 
the  nation,  as  of  one  man,  throbbed  with  intense 
expectation  of  the  speedy  manifestation  of  the 
great  Deliverer.  And  when  Christianity  arose, 
it  found  a mighty  advocate  in  these  powerful  sym- 
pathies and  exciting  hopes  of  the  people.  It 
carried  with  it  all  the  authority  of  prophecy,  such 
as  then  lived  in  the  hearts,  glowed  on  the  lips, 
pervaded  the  worship,  and  moulded  the  character 
of  the  entire  race.  Christ  stood  before  them  as 
the  fulfillment  of  this  prophecy ; and  though  his 
lowly  condition  corresponded  not  w ith  their  lofty 
expectations,  yet  every  argument  he  urged  in 
demonstration  of  his  Messiahship,  came  home  to 
their  hearts  enforced  by  all  the  associations  of 
their  youth  and  manhood.  Their  ancient  proph- 
ets seemed  to  descend  from  their  high  abode  to 
bear  their  testimony  to,  and  shed  their  homage 
around,  this  illustrious  being.  But  with  that  age, 
these  feelings  have  passed  away.  From  earliest 
infancy  the  Jew  has  been  taught  to  execrate  the 
Christian’s  faith,  and  the  anathemas  under  w hose 
intolerable  burden  he  has  groaned  have  given 
force  to  the  lesson.  For  centuries,  the  ingenuity 
of  wit,  the  refinements  of  sophistry,  the  parade  of 
learning,  and  the  force  of  authority,  have  been 
combined  to  bring  into  contempt  the  Christian 
interpretation  of  Messianic  prophecies.  And, 
while  under  the  tuition  of  patriarchs  and  rabbis. 


19 


of  the  Talmud  and  Gemara,  he  has  become  versed 
in  the  tactics  of  evasion  and  subterfuge,  at  the 
same  time  the  entire  force  of  his  education  steels 
his  bosom  against  the  religion  of  the  Nazarine. 

In  some  respects,  however,  the  modern  Church 
occupies  a position  of  influence  over  this  people, 
above  that  of  the  ancient.  This  very  dispersion, 
this  outpouring  of  the  long  gathering  flood,  that 
swept  them  from  Judea  and  strewed  them  in 
wrecks  on  every  shore,  was  minutely  described 
in  the  sacred  records  three  thousand  years  ago. 
On  the  pages  of  the  New  Testament  the  same 
dark  events  are  foretold  with  equal  distinctness. 
The  Christian  Church,  in  her  efforts  for  the 
conversion  of  Israel,  proceeds  upon  the  firm 
foundation  of  prophecy  fulfilled,  such  as  affords 
the  most  indubitable  evidence  of  the  divine 
origin  of  our  faith.  Other  circumstances  com- 
bine to  heighten  the  force  of  this  argument. 
The  lengthened  darkness  of  that  night,  which,  in 
fulfillment  of  these  prophetic  denunciations,  has 
brooded  over  this  nation  for  nearly  two  thousand 
years,  has  not  been  without  its  influence  for  good. 
As  meteor  after  meteor  has  flashed  across  the  sky 
and  disappeared,  leaving  only  increasing  dark- 
ness ; as  prophet  after  prophet  has  reared  the 
standard  of  Messiah,  only  to  have  it  lowered  in 
blood  and  shame,  so  the  hopes  of  this  people 
have  been  often  raised,  only  to  be  dashed  to  the 
earth.  No  star  of  Bethlehem  cheers  the  hearts 
of  these  anxious  watchers.  Hope  is  retiring  be- 
fore the  increasing  darkness  of  this  starless  night. 


20 


Prophecy,  such  as  Christianity  authorizes,  so  sad- 
ly, so  sternly  fulfilled,  is  sadly  working  in  multi- 
tude, the  fearfully  joyful  conviction,  that  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  is  their  long  expected  Messiah.  Thus 
time  itself  is  elaborating  an  argument,  of  all  others 
the  most  powerful,  to  dispel  those  bright  illusions 
by  which  the  Jew  is  blinded  to  the  glory  of  the 
cross. 

The  other  great  opponent  of  Christianity  was 
the  Pagan.  The  conflict  with  Paganism,  as  it 
then  existed  under  the  forms  of  Atheism,  Pan- 
theism, and  Pollytheism,  convulsed  the  whole 
Roman  empire.  It  was  then  in  its  manhood. 
Poetry  praised  it ; philosophy  smiled  upon  it ; the 
populace  adored  it ; and  the  entire  force  of  the 
state  was  enlisted  in  its  defence.  No  circum- 
stance was  wanting  that  could  contribute  to  en- 
hance the  formidable  opposition  it  made  to  the 
cross.  It  was  then  in  the  full  maturity  of  its 
strength ; the  passions  of  the  great,  the  wisdom 
of  the  learned,  the  prejudices  of  the  vulgar,  with 
the  immense  power  of  that  vast  state,  constituted 
the  wall  of  its  defence.  Yet  so  mightily  did  the 
truth  of  Christ  work,  that,  in  less  than  three  cen- 
turies, it  set  at  defiance  the  omnipotence  of  Rome, 
won  the  emperor,  and  swept  away  the  worship  of 
the  ancient  gods.  The  huge  and  massive  super- 
stition crumbled  down  before  the  influence  of 
Christian  truth. 

At  this  day  more  than  half  the  human  family 
are  the  devotees  of  the  rudest  forms  of  Paganism  ; 


21 


while  here,  at  home,  beside  the  very  altars  of  a 
Christian  people,  there  is  springing  up  a refined 
Paganism,  beautiful  as  poetry,  profound  as  mysti- 
cism, and  corrupt  as  the  most  depraved  movings 
of  the  human  heart.  This  hybrid  issue  of  a spu- 
rious philosophy  and  a degenerate  Christianity, 
after  having  poisoned  the  life-blood  of  one  Christ- 
ian nation,  has  crossed  the  ocean  to  seek  the 
religious  empire  of  this  new  wrorld.  But  in  this 
conflict,  though  it  be  with  new  and  varied  forms 
of  this  old  error,  the  Church  occupies  a position 
far  above  that  from  which  she  waged  >var  with 
the  Paganism  of  Rome.  Her  w eapons  of  offence 
and  defence,  have  been  accumulating  for  eighteen 
centuries.  They  are  wielded  by  the  strength  in- 
spired in  a thousand  victories,  with  the  science 
gained  in  the  war  of  ages. 

Such  were  the  two  great  systems  of  religion 
by  which  Christianity  was  then  opposed.  But,  at 
the  present  day,  she  has  to  meet  not  only  these, 
but  other  religions,  the  growth  of  subsequent 
ages,  framed  for  dominion,  large  in  resources,  and 
bitter  in  hostility  to  the  cross. 

In  the  opening  of  the  seventh  century,  there 
sprang  up,  amidst  the  deserts  of  Arabia,  a system 
of  religion  which,  from  that  day  to  this,  has  pre- 
sented one  of  the  most  formidable  obstacles  to 
the  advance  of  Christianity.  Its  theology  is  one 
bold,  grand  truth,  enforcing  an  equally  bold  lie. 
“ There  is  but  one  God .”  This  Avas  the  thunder- 
bolt Muhammed  hurled  among  the  idols  of  Mec- 


22 


ca.  “ Muhammed  is  his  prophet.”  This  was  the 
imposition  which  gave  to  this  truth  the  demon- 
stration of  the  sword.  Here  has  ever  been  the 
great  secret  of  Muhammed’s  success.  He  was  a 
prophet,  through  whom  heaven  blazed  forth  its 
revelations  to  an  idolatrous  world.  He  was  a 
chieftain,  commissioned  to  enforce  the  will  of 
heaven  bj  the  terror  of  arms.  In  establishing 
his  system,  he  brought  to  his  aid  two  of  the  most 
powerful  and  most  permanent  passions  of  our  na- 
ture. He  roused  the  ardor  of  war ; he  awoke  the 
enthusiasm  of  religion ; and,  as  if  to  ensure  the 
perpetuity  of  their  union,  he  consecrated  the  first, 
by  the  authority  of  the  second,  and  gathered 
around  the  unholy  alliance  all  the  attractions  of 
sensuality  and  ambition.  Inspired  by  such  a re- 
ligion, it  is  not  a matter  of  wonder,  that  the  fiery 
Saracen,  sweeping  in  a whirlwind  over  western 
Asia,  over  Africa  and  Spain,  should  have  dashed 
down  the  Pagan’s  idols,  trodden  in  scorn  upon  the 
corrupt  institutions  of  a degenerate  Christianity, 
and  ended  by  the  establishment  of  one  of  the  most 
powerful  dynasties  that  ever  swayed  the  sceptre 
of  dominion. 

The  situation  of  this  system  of  religion,  which, 
but  a few  centuries  ago,  shook  the  mightiest 
thrones  in  Europe  to  their  base,  is  full  of  encour- 
agement to  the  Christian.  Its  youth  has  gone ; 
the  signs  of  decrepid  age  mark  all  its  movements. 
The  empire  shrunk  to  a tenth  of  its  former  ex- 
tent— rebel  provinces  resisting  successfully  the 


23 


power  of  the  Sultan, — state  after  state  in  quick 
succession  assuming  an  attitude  of  independence, 
while  the  proud  son  of  Othnian  is  forced  to 
crouch  before  Christian  sovereigns,  a royal  beg- 
gar for  the  political  existence  of  his  people. 

Other  nations  around,  and  mingled  with  this 
race,  are  rapidly  advancing  in  science  and  power ; 
the  Greek,  the  Jew,  the  Arminian,are  daily  rising 
in  intelligence.  Muhammedanism  alone  is  sink- 
ing into  an  atrophy.  Her  efforts  to  rise,  are  the 
struggles  of  a man  in  a morass,  which  serve  only 
to  show  her  own  impotence  and  the  impossibility 
of  her  rescue  by  foreign  hands.  Unlike  Christ- 
ianity, which,  in  the  sixteenth  century, — when 
the  world  was  breaking  loose  from  her  intellect- 
ual bondage, — with  the  giant  vigor  of  youth  shook 
off  the  incumbent  mass  of  superstition,  and  took 
the  lead  of  science  in  the  disinthrallment  of  the 
human  mind, — Islamism  embosoms  no  elements 
of  revivification.  Its  religion  and  its  customs  are 
all  stereotyped  after  the  pattern  of  the  days  of 
darkness.  And  as  the  courage,  the  enthusiasm, 
the  hardihood  of  its  mountain  and  desert  nour- 
ished youth,  vanish  under  the  influence  of  luxury 
and  repose,  there  remains  no  vital  force  to  rebuild 
her  mouldering  walls,  to  prop  her  falling  but- 
tresses, to  hold  her  up  in  the  struggle  for  advance- 
ment with  the  great  powers  of  Christendom. 

Muhammedanism  is  thus  retiring  before  the 
onward  march  of  the  civilized  world.  Change 
she  cannot  without  outraging  the  piety  of  every 


24 


true  Mussulman;  for  her  religion  forbids  those 
changes  of  government  and  manners  which  are 
necessary  to  her  advancement.  If  she  clings  to 
her  ecclesiastical  polity,  her  political  damnation 
is  inevitable.  If,  breaking  away  from  these  tram- 
mels, she  launches  forth  upon  the  wild  sea  of  po- 
litical experiment,  then  her  religion  must  foun- 
der and  go  down  forever.  How*  long  it  will  be 
before  the  cannon  which  have  desolated  the  fair- 
est towns  of  Syria,  and  curbed  the  iron  spirit  of 
the  rebel  Pacha,  shall  be  pointed  at  the  seraglio 
of  the  Sultan,  man  cannot  predict.  But  the  voice 
of  Providence,  borne  to  us  on  every  breeze,  de- 
clares that  the  decree  against  this  once  terrible 
power  has  gone  forth.  The  allied  power  of  all 
Europe  may  retard,  but  it  cannot  stop  the  de- 
scending bolt.  The  haughty  and  cruel  Ottoman, 
whose  tread  of  death  has  crushed  the  minds  and 
hearts  of  millions,  whose  sway  has  consigned  to 
solitude  and  decay  the  garden  spots  of  earth, 
whose  presence  is  a moral  upas  beneath  which 
science  dies,  and  the  living  vigor  of  the  immortal 
spirit  withers,  that  power  which  has  sought  only 
to  enslave,  never  to  deliver;  to  destroy,  never  to 
build  up;  is  hastening  to  dissolution.  And  when 
the  empire  of  Othman  falls,  when  once  the 
throne  of  the  Sultan,  like  that  of  the  Caliph, 
crumbles,  then  assuredly  cometh  the  jubilee  of 
Christianity  over  prostrate  Islamism.  Far  and 
wide  as  the  religion  of  Muhammed  is  diffused,  its 
professors,  from  every  quarter  of  the  globe,  from 


25 


the  sands  of  Ethiopia,  the  mountains  of  Tartary, 
and  the  distant  shores  of  China,  all  turn  their 
eyes  with  anxious  gaze  to  Constantinople,  as  the 
last  refuge  of  their  faith.  When  once  the  stone 
cut  out  from  the  mountain  without  hands,  shall 
strike  this  collossus,  when  once  its  mosques  shall 
echo  to  the  voice  of  Christian  worshippers,  the 
death  knell  of  Islamism  will  be  sounded  over  the 
earth.  Not  more  surely  will  the  arch  fall  whose 
key-stone  is  rent  away,  than  will  this  huge  edi- 
fice of  religious  imposture  tumble  into  ruins, 
when  once  the  empire  of  the  Turk  is  overturned. 
It  was  the  Turk  who  came  to  the  succor  of  this 
religion,  when  the  dynasty  of  the  Caliphs  was  in 
ruins  at  his  feet.  This  young,  bold,  hardy  race 
of  Tartars,  infused  new  life  into  the  religion  of 
the  conquered  Saracen,  when  it  was  rapidly  tend- 
ing to  decay.  And  as  the  Sultan  falls  into  the 
same  grave  his  ancestors  dug  for  the  Caliph,  w'hat 
new  power  will  arise  to  bid  the  decaying  tree 
flourish  green  again  over  their  sepulchres'? 

About  the  same  period  in  which  Muhammed 
appeared,  another  religious  system,  equally  cor- 
rupt and  still  more  formidable  to  true  Christian- 
ity, sprang  up  in  her  bosom.  The  influences 
which  originated  the  Papacy  had  been  operating 
since  apostolic  days.  But  amidst  the  fire  and  the 
sword  of  persecution,  the  system  could  not  reach 
its  full  development.  It  waited  for  the  installa- 
tion of  Christianity  as  the  state  religion  of  the 
civilized  world.  That  great  event  gave  to  the 
4 


26 


Church  splendid  temples  for  its  worship,  princely 
wealth  and  power  for  its  ministers.  Amidst  the 
sudden  splendor  that  encompassed  her,  as  she 
emerged  from  the  caverns  and  the  lairs  whither 
persecution  had  driven  her,  ambition,  lordly,  cor- 
rupt, and  all  grasping,  wove  that  triple  crown, 
which,  within  little  more  than  a century,  pressed 
the  brow  of  the  bishop  of  Rome,  and  before  which 
the  crowns  of  Europe’s  proudest  sovereigns  have 
often  been  lowered.  I need  not  dwell  upon  the 
character  of  this  spiritual  despotism.  Suffice  it 
here  to  remark,  that  of  all  the  forces  of  evil 
arrayed  against  the  early  Church,  not  one  can  be 
compared  with  this. 

Yet,  with  this  terrible  power,  Christianity  has 
already  fought,  under  circumstances  the  most  un- 
favorable to  success,  and  triumphed.  The  same 
weapons  which  then  won  the  victory,  are  now  in 
our  hands ; the  energy,  which  then  shook  down 
so  many  pillars  of  this  vast  structure,  still  lives  to 
carry  onward  the  work  of  reformation.  Nor  is  it 
true,  as  it  has  been  asserted,  that  the  relative 
positions  of  Protestant  Christianity  and  the  Pa- 
pacy, are  nearly  the  same  as  they  were  left  by 
the  Reformation.  It  may  be  true  that  the  Pope 
wields  a sceptre  over  as  many  millions  now,  as  he 
did  then ; but  who  is  ignorant  of  the  fact,  that 
this  power  is,  in  many  cases,  little  more  than 
nominal.  Slowly,  indeed,  as  moral  forces  usually 
work,  until  they  reach  the  crisis  of  sudden  devel- 
opment, but  no  less  surely  has  the  spiritual  des- 


27 


potism  of  Rome  been  losing  its  hold  upon  the 
conscience  of  mankind.  Government  after  gov- 
ernment lias  broken  its  political  power,  until  the 
old  man  on  the  Tiber  has  become  an  enthroned 
cypher,  amidst  the  gigantic  powers  of  Europe. 
Nor  is  it  a small  matter  in  our  favor,  that  this  re- 
ligion, ever  clinging  to  the  thrones  of  despotism 
and  courting  their  darkness,  is  failing  before  the 
march  of  revolution  and  the  progress  of  free  prin- 
ciples. The  advance  of  human  society  is  against 
the  power  which  reached  its  giant  height  only 
amidst  the  darkness  of  the  middle  ages.  Hence 
it  is,  that  the  states  of  South  America  throw  off 
the  tyrant,  they  grow  weary  of  this  religion. 
Hence,  in  every  part  of  the  world,  where  the 
principles  of  liberty  and  the  elements  of  science 
are  the  common  property  of  the  people,  this  sys- 
tem makes  no  advance.  True  it  is,  that  in  both  this 
land  and  in  that  of  our  fathers,  it  has  exhibited, 
within  the  last  few  years,  an  unwonted  vigor. 
But  what  religion  ever  yet  died  without  exhib- 
iting signs  of  returning  animation  ? The  wick, 
just  ready  to  expire,  flashes  up  for  an  instant  with 
singular  brightness  ; the  body,  from  which  life  is 
fast  departing,  is  convulsed  to  its  extremities  ere 
the  fainting  heart  ceases  to  beat.  Muhammedan- 
ism  itself,  now’  that  its  death  knell  is  about  to  be 
rung,  is  going  forth  on  missions  of  propagandism 
to  central  Africa.  And  can  any  one  suppose, 
that  a religious  despotism  of  this  tremendous 
power,  will  die  as  an  infant  falls  asleep,  and  not 


28 


as  a giant  tosses  and  heaves  his  unwieldy  frame, 
before  his  cry  of  agony  is  hushed  forever? 

In  concluding  this  comparison  of  the  religious 
influences  hostile  to  the  ancient  and  modern 
church,  it  is  necessary  to  notice  the  opposition  of 
infidelity  and  erroneous  forms  of  Christian  doc- 
trine. In  the  first  ages  of  Christianity,  the  great 
conflict  was  with  Paganism.  A system  which  de- 
nied the  truth  of  Christianity,  of  Paganism,  and  of 
Judaism,  which,  while  it  trod  upon  the  Bible, 
laughed  at  the  rites  of  the  Pantheon,  existed  in- 
deed ; but  it  was  an  esoteric  doctrine,  hidden 
within  the  groves  of  the  philosopher  and  the 
cloister  of  the  priest.  That  bold  and  shameless 
infidelity,  which  since  the  reformation  has  strug- 
gled so  fiercely  to  sweep  Christianity  from  the 
earth,  had  not  yet  appeared.  It  was  the  offspring 
of  a later  age.  The  mental  agitations,  the  amaz- 
ing intellectual  activity,  to  which  the  efforts  of 
the  reformers  in  leaving  off  the  superstitions  of 
Home  had  given  birth,  in  connexion  with  the 
frightful  licentiousness  engendered  by  the  opera- 
tion for  centuries  of  a corrupt  religion,  quickened 
into  life,  and  gave  character  and  force  to  the  delu- 
sion of  modern  infidelity.  The  influence  of  the 
Reformation,  in  awakening  the  intellect,  extended 
far  beyond  the  counteracting  influence  of  its  doc- 
trines. The  public  mind  Avas  everywhere  aroused 
by  the  exciting  nature  of  the  contest.  The  old 
channels  of  thought  were  forsaken,  the  old  land- 
marks of  doctrine  swept  away,  and  the  great  deep 


29 


was  broken  up.  Nor  is  it  a matter  of  surprise 
that,  in  countries  where  the  truths  of  the  Refor- 
mation were  not  suffered  to  root  themselves,  or 
where  they  could  grow  only  in  the  hot-house  of 
state  patronage,  infidelity  should  have  reached  up 
to  so  lofty  a height. 

With  this  fierce,  proud  and  malignant  opponent, 
Christianity  has  been  obliged  to  grapple  in  cir- 
cumstances, than  which  none  could  be  more  fa- 
vorable for  the  total  rout  of  her  forces.  Against 
her,  were  arrayed  the  highest  powers  of  wit  and 
science.  Heaven  suffered  minds  of  the  first  order 
to  waste  their  energies  in  the  support  of  this  ne- 
gation of  truth.  There  is  scarcely  a single  de- 
partment of  intellectual  labor,  in  which  infidelity 
has  not  had  distinguished  advocates.  It  has  gone 
down  into  the  subterranean  depths  of  metaphy- 
sics, and  labored  with  the  energy  of  a Hume 
to  upheave  the  foundations  of  human  belief.  It 
has  traversed  the  sunny  fields  of  literature,  and 
breathed  its  poison  on  the  page  of  history.  It  has 
ascended  the  rostrum  of  the  statesman,  and  in  the 
costume  of  liberty  has  employed  the  force  of  elo- 
quence to  subvert  the  noble  truths  of  Christian 
freedom.  It  has  sat  on  the  high  places  of  sacred 
literature,  corrupting  the  fountains  of  religious  in- 
fluence, and  prostituting  the  acquisitions  of  learn- 
ing to  the  horrid  work  of  debauching  the  teach- 
ers of  men.  It  has  even  gone  up  into  the  pulpit, 
and  wielded  the  heavenly  sympathies,  attractions, 
and  powers,  of  that  sacred  place,  against  the  life 


30 


of  that  religion  which  gave  them  existence.  TSot 
satisfied  with  this  wide  range  of  effort,  it  has  de- 
scended into  the  styes  of  human  corruption,  and 
there,  by  ribaldry,  by  falsehood,  by  pandering  to 
all  the  licentious  desires  of  man,  it  has  toiled  with 
insane  energy  to  shut  the  door  of  reformation 
upon  the  criminal,  and  extinguish  forever  the  still 
glimmering  spark  of  hope  in  the  breast  of  the 
abandoned. 

In  conducting  these  wide  spread  operations,  it 
brought  to  its  aid  all  the  then  present  and  well 
remembered  corruptions  of  a most  degenerate 
Christianity.  The  infidel  wielded  the  corrup- 
tions of  the  Church  against  the  very  life  of  the 
Church.  The  pride  of  the  hierarchy,  the  licen- 
tiousness of  the  priesthood,  the  bigoted  ignorance 
of  churchmen,  the  blood  of  heroic  martyrs,  and 
the  contemptible  fooleries  by  which  the  multi- 
tude were  deluded,  which  had  defiled  the  his- 
tory of  the  Church  for  centuries,  gave  to  a keen- 
sighted  infidelity  an  immense  advantage  over  its 
opponent.  The  former  boasted  of  its  tendency 
to  disenthrall  the  mind  ; it  was  about  to  introduce 
the  jubilee  of  knowledge,  refinement,  liberty, 
and  equality.  The  latter,  wherever  it  turned, 
was  met  by  the  hideous  form  of  that  corruption 
which  had  preyed  for  ages  upon  the  peace,  mo- 
rality, and  liberties  of  men.  The  tendencies  of 
the  former  were  not  yet  fully  developed.  It  had 
not  yet  enjoyed  space  and  opportunity  for  the 
manifestation  of  its  character.  The  latter,  for  a 


31 


cycle  of  years,  had  been  the  dominant  religion  of 
Europe,  and  partially'  of  Asia  and  Africa.  Around 
the  former  clustered  all  the  attractions  of  novelty, 
and  large  hope  ; around  the  latter,  the  damning 
persecutions,  corruptions,  hypocrisies,  and  failures 
of  centuries.  Under  such  circumstances  the  con- 
flict began,  and  with  such  weapons  it  was  carried 
forward. 

For  a time  these  vast  efforts  portended  the  ruin 
of  the  Christian  cause.  But  it  was  only  for  a 
brief  season.  These  hordes  of  the  infidel  rav- 
aged, but  they  did  not  conquer ; they  passed  over 
the  land  with  fire  and  sword ; but  they  roused 
the  ardor  of  Christian  zeal.  They  taught  the 
Christian  the  discipline  of  their  arms.  Momen- 
tary defeat  became  the  means  of  the  more  com- 
plete and  permanent  triumph  of  the  cross.  A 
thousand  intellects  concentred  their  keen  vision 
upon  the  evidences  of  Christianity.  The  fields 
of  sacred  history  and  science  were  trodden  in 
every  part  by  men  of  robust  understanding, 
boundless  learning,  and  profound  judgment.  With 
infinite  toil,  with  inexhaustible  patience,  with  su- 
perhuman energy,  they  labored  at  the  defence  of 
our  faith.  Around  Christianity  they  reared  bul- 
warks, high,  massive,  impregnable  to  the  assaults 
of  irreligion.  They  did  still  more  than  this ; 
they  entered  the  domains  of  the  infidel.  History 
wras  met  by  history,  philosophy  by  philosophy, 
research  by  still  deeper  research.  At  every  step 
the  arms  of  infidelity  were  turned  against  itself. 


32 


Meanwhile  the  mask  fell  from  this  mockery  of 
religion.  It  stood  forth  disclosed  in  its  naked 
ugliness  before  the  world.  Heaven  suffered  it 
to  occupy  a noble  theatre  on  which  to  act  out  its 
true  character  in  the  view  of  all  coming  time. 
From  that  scene  of  raging  passion,  wild  uproar, 
legalized  hate,  lust  and  butchery,  I need  not  draw 
the  veil.  The  memory  of  that  time  fills  the  soul 
with  horror.  That  scene  inspired  courage  into 
the  Christian,  while  it  covered  the  face  of  the  in- 
fidel with  paleness.  His  chosen  vantage  ground 
was  wrested  from  him.  Where  are  now  the 
boasts,  the  jubilations,  the  paeans  of  triumph  in 
anticipation  of  the  speedy  fall  of  Christianity, 
which  then  deafened  the  ear  of  heaven  ? Where 
is  now  that  host  of  philosophers,  w its,  poets,  his- 
torians, statesmen  and  crowned  heads,  which  lit- 
tle more  than  half  a century  ago  licked  the  dust 
trodden  by  the  feet  of  the  strumpet  goddess  of 
infidelity?  The  song  of  triumph  has  ceased;  the 
loud  huzzas  are  hushed.  The  swellings  of  that 
wretched  atheism,  instead  of  'engulphing,  have 
borne  the  ark  of  Christian  truth  high  on  the 
solid  earth.  Doubtless  this  opponent  will  still 
continue  to  resist  the  advance  of  the  cross.  We 
know  not,  indeed,  but  that  he  is  even  now  sum- 
moning his  energies  for  another  fearful  struggle. 
Nor  is  it  improbable  that  with  him,  Christianity 
is  destined  to  grapple  most  vigorously  in  the  con- 
flict which  is  to  chain  the  prince  of  darkness  and 
usher  in  the  millenial  morn.  Yet  she  fights  with 


an  oft  conquered  foe;  around  her  are  the  trophies 
of  victory  and  the  impregnable  defences  of  our 
faith.  The  Church  has  reached  a position  which 
commands  the  entire  field. 

In  addition  to  this  great  obstacle,  Christianity 
has  to  contend  with  others,  springing  up  in  her 
own  ranks.  There  is,  in  the  breast  of  the  impen- 
itent, a spirit  hostile  to  the  humiliating  truths  of 
the  Cospel,  while  at  the  same  time  conscience, 
unable  to  find  repose  in  a system  of  barren  nega- 
tions, impels  to  the  adoption  of  correct  religious 
principles.  To  satisfy  the  demands  of  conscience, 
the  costume  of  religion  is  preserved  ; to  gratify 
the  spirit  of  infidelity,  the  life  of  religion  is  re- 
fined away.  To  the  joint  influence  of  these  forces, 
is  mainly  due  the  production  of  numerous  errors, 
adorned,  outwardly,  with  the  blazonings  of  true 
religion,  but.  exhibiting,  to  the  attentive  observer, 
only  an  emasculated  Christianity. 

It  is  not  to  be  denied  that  the  early  Church  was 
greatly  injured  by  the  prevalence  of  numerous 
forms  of  error  among  her  own  disciples.  Aside 
from  the  causes  already  assigned,  which  had  pe- 
culiar force  over  minds  wholly  strangers  to  gen- 
uine piety,  there  were  others  which  operated  to 
lead  astray  the  truly  pious.  It  was  an  age  of 
much  popular  ignorance.  With  the  excepton  of 
the  Greek  and  the  Jew,  the  great  mass  of  the  peo- 
ple dwelt  on  the  confines  of  barbarism  and  civiliza- 
tion. In  such  circumstances,  it  was  to  be  expect- 
ed that  error  wrould  spring  up,  even  under  the 
5 


34 


preaching  of  the  most  enlightened  and  cautious 
teachers.  But,  besides  the  general  ignorance  of 
the  people,  their  best  educated  and  most  intelli- 
gent instructors  were,  in  many  instances,  imbued 
with  a philosophy  as  unlike  that  of  the  Cross,  as 
paganism  is  unlike  the  law  of  Moses.  The  influ- 
ence of  this  false  philosophy  was  deplorably  bad. 
The  ignorance  of  a people  unaccustomed  to  draw 
nice  moral  distinctions,  and  the  scarcity  of  the 
Word,  under  the  slow  transcriptions  of  the  scribe, 
gave  full  scope  to  the  workings  of  this  philoso- 
phy. The  results  are  everywhere  visible  in  the 
errors  which  mar  almost  every  page  of  the  early 
and  subsequent  history  of  the  Church.  Nor  is  it 
extravagant  to  affirm  that  these,  almost  as  much 
as  the  power  of  heathenism  itself,  clogged  the 
chariot  wheels  of  salvation.  If  the  battle-axe  of 
a pagan  Celsus  now  and  then  dashed  an  embrasure, 
the  weapons  of  a philosophic  Origen  were  fire- 
brands scattered  within  the  sacred  city. 

In  the  conflict  with  errors  of  this  character, 
the  modern  Church  has,  in  some'  respects,  the  ad- 
vantage over  the  ancient.  The  mental  collisions, 
and  accumulated  research,  of  eighteen  hundred 
years,  have  given  greater  definiteness  both  to  the 
views  of  truth,  and  the  perceptions  of  error. 
While  it  is  undoubtedly  true  that  the  early  Christ- 
ians seized  hold  of  the  grand  truths  of  the  Gospel, 
it  is  no  less  true  that  the  system  of  truth  it  em- 
bodied was  but  dimly  apprehended.  The  minor 
points  of  doctrine,  the  relation  of  the  different 


35 


parts  of  the  system  to  each  other,  were  not  under- 
stood. The  main  points  of  a system  may  be  easily 
apprehended,  while  their  relations  to  each  other 
may  demand  the  investigations  of  centuries  fully 
to  unfold  them.  It  is  here  that  there  is  room  for 
advancement  in  the  knowledge  of  Christianity ; 
science  cannot,  indeed,  better  the  Bible,  but  it 
may  aid  us  in  bringing  out  what  is  in  the  Bible. 
It  cannot  prune  and  alter,  and  modify,  and  prac- 
tically annihilate  any  of  the  truths  actually  to  be 
found  therein ; but  it  may  contribute  to  the  more 
perfect  development  of  their  relations  to  each 
other.  Without  arrogance,  no  one  can  affirm  that, 
in  the  mode  of  interpreting  the  sacred  Oracles, 
he  has  reached  perfection  in  theory  and  in  prac- 
tice. Far  less  can  this  be  asserted  of  the  ancients. 
We  know  that  some  of  the  principles  on  which 
they  reasoned  are  false.  Nor  is  it  too  much  to 
say  that,  in  this  respect,  there  has  been  a great 
advance  since  the  days  of  the  Fathers.  Indeed, 
the  circumstances  of  the  early  Church  were,  in 
the  main,  unfavorable  to  the  profound  investiga- 
tion and  calm  discussion  of  the  minor  truths.  It 
was  an  age  of  persecution,  when  men  were  oblig- 
ed to  cling  to  the  strong  points  of  truth.  It  was 
an  age  of  missionary  action,  when  the  energies  of 
the  church  were  mainly  directed  to  the  propaga- 
tion of  the  Gospel.  There  was  little  opportunity 
for  quiet  meditation,  except  in  the  cell  of  the 
monk,  and  the  cave  of  the  hermit,  to  which  the 
latter  part  of  this  period  gave  rise. 


36 


In  addition  to  the  advantages  enjoyed  by  the 
modern  Church,  in  more  definite  perceptions  of 
the  system  of  truth,  there  is  a familiarity  with  the 
character  and  workings  of  error,  which  enables 
her  to  devise  and  execute  the  measures  necessary 
for  its  overthrow.  The  incessant  warfare  with 
it,  in  which  she  has  so  long  been  engaged,  has 
given  her  a keen  perception  of  its  multiform 
character  and  protean  aspect ; an  experimental 
acquaintance  with  the  operations  by  which  it  is 
ever  attempting  to  subvert  the  truth.  It  w ould 
be  passing  beyond  the  limits  of  rational  conjecture 
to  assert,  with  one  of  the  most  original  waiters  of 
this  age,  that  the  fields  of  error  have  all  been 
sown,  the  harvest  reaped,  and  that,  for  the  future, 
it  can  only  re-produce  antiquated  and  exposed 
dogmas.  It  is  not  improbable  that  such  vast  sys- 
tems of  imposture,  as  that  of  the  papacy,  have  all 
appeared.  In  this  late  age  of  the  world,  it  seems 
hardly  probable  that  other  systems  w ill  arise  to 
rival  the  deadly  influence  of  this.  Such  elaborate 
and  systematised  errors  are  the'  result  of  the  si- 
lent workings  of  centuries ; their  power  is  only 
overthrown  after  ages  of  conflict.  But  with  this 
exception,  as  society  advances,  as  the  relations  of 
the  different  parts  of  truth  become  more  fully  de- 
veloped, as  each  age  bears  an  impress  peculiar 
to  itself,  we  must  expect  that  error  will  throw  off 
its  antiquated  costume  and  adapt  itself  to  t lie  char- 
acter of  the  times.  It  is  always  one  in  essence ; 
diversified  in  its  manifestations,  as  the  firmament ; 


37 


yet,  even  on  this  supposition,  the  knowledge 
possessed  by  the  Church,  of  the  past  appearances 
and  operations  of  error,  is  of  immense  advantage. 
The  mind  of  the  Church  has  been  disciplined  to 
a rapid  detection  of  the  advance  of  error  and  the 
means  best  adapted  to  meet  it.  The  past  lias 
made  her  wary,  deliberate,  skillful. 

The  only  remaining  point  of  comparison,  be- 
tween the  ancient  and  modern  Church,  which  I 
shall  notice,  is  the  literature  of  their  respective 
times.  When  Christianity  arose,  the  science  of 
the  world  was  in  the  hands  of  its  opponents.  The 
canonized  shades  of  Plato  and  Aristotle  frowned 
upon  it ; the  eagle-eyed  philosophy  of  Greece, 
which  then  swayed  the  sceptre  of  science,  des- 
pised the  Gospel  as  the  babblings  of  insanity. 
While  a Tacitus,  and  a Juvenal,  could  turn  away 
from  it  with  the  contemptuous  exclamation — “ An 
execrable  superstition.”  The  great  masters  in 
the  realm  of  literature,  the  minds  disciplined  to 
thought,  and  rich  in  human  lore,  the  philosophic 
historian,  the  brilliant  poet,  the  astute  dialec- 
tician, the  powerful  advocate,  the  large  minded 
statesman,  with  scarcely  a single  exception,  out 
of  Judea,  poured  their  fire  upon  the  fisherman  of 
Galilee. 

Look  now  abroad  upon  the  domain  of  the  heath- 
en world  ! The  orbs  of  its  pagan  glory  have  all 
set ; the  very  stars  which,  in  such  luminous  con- 
stellations, then  flamed  in  the  firmament,  have  all 
gone  down  to  rise,  in  fresh,  undying  radiance, 


38 


upon  the  institutions  of  a Christian  people.  There 
is  darkness  settling,  like  a pall,  over  the  wide 
pagan  land.  While  around  the  Cross  is  gathered 
the  mind,  the  knowledge,  the  intellectual  enter- 
prise of  the  world.  It  is  not  asserted,  indeed, 
that  men  of  science  are  uniformly  Christian  in 
their  convictions,  or  their  practice.  Yet  it  is  true 
that  Christianity  embosoms  the  multitude  of  those 
who  are  carrying  forward,  with  indomitable  vigor, 
the  triumphs  of  mind ; she  breathes  into  them 
the  spirit  of  inquiry ; she  calls  them  from  airy 
and  evanescent  dreams,  to  the  practical,  the  real, 
the  true.  On  her  history,  time  is  continually 
engraving,  with  a vividness  that  shall  defy  the 
the  laspe  of  ages,  names  as  bright,  as  radiant,  as 
powerful,  in  the  influence  they  gave  to  the  ad- 
vance of  truth,  as  any  to  be  found  in  the  scroll  of 
this  world’s  record.  Nor  is  this  all  the  truth. 
She  seizes  hold  of,  and  appropriates  to  the  ad- 
vance of  her  own  great  objects,  the  discoveries, 
the  toils  of  her  most  bitter  foes.  She  domesticates 
the  gifted  minds  of  pagan  Greece  and  Rome,  in 
the  groves  of  her  academies  and  the  halls  of  her 
colleges.  She  wrests  from  the  hands  of  infidelity, 
the  weapons  for  which  it  has  toiled,  with  wonder- 
ful patience,  amidst  the  mausoleums  of  Egypt’s 
grandeur  and  Egypt’s  fame,  and  plants  them  as 
buttresses  around  the  truth  of  God.  Go,  single  out 
the  warrior  champion  of  infidelity,  a Voltaire,  a 
Hume,  a Diderot,  a Gibbon  ; and  I will  show  you 
one  from  the  triumphs  of  whose  genius  Christian- 


39 


ity  has  gathered,  and  is  gathering,  the  materials 
of  science,  wherewith  to  swell  her  last  great  tri- 
umph over  the  downfall  of  error  throughout  the 
world.  She  fears  not  the  development  of  truth, 
or  the  march  of  science.  While  Home  threatens 
Copernicus,  and  imprisons  Galileo,  she  cheers  on 
her  Bacon,  rejoices  in  the  triumphs  of  her  New- 
ton, and  with  a force,  as  gentle  as  it  is  irresistible, 
compels  the  votary  of  science  to  bring  his  offer- 
ing to  her  shrine.  She  believes  that  all  truth  is  one 
in  its  source,  harmonious  in  its  relations,  and  one 
in  its  end.  The  progress  of  true  learning,  she  re- 
gards as  in  perfect  harmony  with  that  of  true  re- 
ligion. In  the  widening  circle  of  science,  she  be- 
holds a wider  field  for  the  triumphs  of  the  Cross. 
Hence  it  is  that,  standing  on  the  mount  of  truth, 
the  science  of  the  world  becomes  her  servitor. 

The  advantage  we  enjoy,  in  this  respect,  above 
the  ancient  Church,  is  obvious.  We  are  qualified 
to  be  the  teachers  of  the  heathen  world  in  sci- 
ence, as  well  as  in  religion.  The  learning  of  the 
mass  of  the  followers  of  Muhammed,  is  limited 
to  the  raphsodies  of  the  Koran  ; for  the  light  that 
shone  around  the  palaces  of  the  Moor  in  Spain, 
had  gone  out  long  before  he  was  swept  from  her 
shore.  And,  aside  from  the  flickering  flame  that 
may  yet  burn  in  Arabia  the  Happy,  the  entire 
science  of  that  religious  imposture  would  not  equal 
that  of  a Christian  schoolboy.  As  for  the  heathen 
world  at  large,  it  has  done  nothing,  for  ages,  but 
stereotype  the  errors  of  its  antiquity.  Mind  is 


40 


stagnant.  The  mental  vigor  which  marked  the 
ages  of  Plato  and  Cicero,  is  nowhere  to  be  found. 
There  is  no  bursting  away  from  the  eternal  round 
of  hoary  puerilities  and  childish  superstitions.  But 
the  grand  fact,  here  to  be  noticed  as  most  favora- 
able  to  the  success  of  Christianity,  is  that  their 
systems  of  science  are  all  interlocked  with  those 
of  religion.  The  explosion  of  their  systems  of 
learning  must  rend  their  systems  of  faith.  And  as 
our  schools,  with  the  miracle-worker  of  the  mod- 
ern Church,  the  press,  upheaves  the  absurdities 
which  constitute  their  literature,  the  towering  fab- 
ric of  superstition,  reared  upon  it,  must  come 
down. 

I have  thus  taken  a hurried  view  of  some  of  the 
principal  forces  arrayed  against  the  ancient  and 
modern  Church,  in  connection  with  the  resources 
in  their  possession  to  overcome  them.  With  these 
facts  before  us,  who,  in  order  to  secure  the  ulti- 
mate and  most  enlarged  success  of  missionary  ef- 
fort, could  wish  to  place  the  Church  in  the  posi- 
tion she  occupied  when  Stephen  harangued  the 
Sanhedrim ; Avhen  Paul  preached  to  the  most  in- 
telligent of  the  pagans,  from  the  steps  of  the  Areo- 
pagus, amidst  the  temples,  the  altars,  the  statues, 
the  splendid  monuments  of  Grecian  prowess,  piety 
and  science — beneath  the  shade  of  Nero’s  palace, 
in  view  of  the  Coliseum,  crowded  with  ils  scores 
of  thousands  of  the  most  enlightened  and  refined  of 
Roman  citizens,  gloating  over  the  dying  agonies 
of  his  noble  coadjutors,  and  at  the  heart  of  that 


41 


colossal  empire,  whose  shadow  darkened  not  only 
over  the  whole  civilized,  hut  of  vast  portions  of 
the  barbarian  world?  To  effect  such  a change 
in  the  position  of  the  modern  Church,  would  be  to 
transfer  the  mind,  the  intellectual  enterprise  of 
the  world,  from  her  friends  to  her  opponents — 
to  blot  out  all  that  advance  of  science  which  has 
given  such  tremendous  power  to  Christianity,  over 
the  absurd  systems  of  heathen  literature — to  an- 
nihilate the  press,  thereby  sweeping  away  the 
multiplied  facilities,  of  this  age,  for  the  diffusion  of 
truth,  the  overthrow  of  error,  and  bringing  back 
upon  the  Church  the  night  when  the  simple  word 
of  God,  the  world’s  great  conservator,  was  depend- 
ant upon  the  slow  pen  of  the  scribe  for  multipli- 
cation, at  the  cost  of  a rich  man’s  fortune,  and 
the  gains  of  a poor  man’s  life — to  break  up  the 
mighty  chains  of  commere,  foundering  your  ships, 
blowing  up  your  steamers,  giving  back  the  needle 
to  the  mine,  and  the  ocean  to  its  old  masters,  the 
unblessing  winds  and  storms — to  consolidate  the 
various  nations  of  the  world,  whose  very  rivalry 
and  jarrings  are  hastening  the  political  emancipa- 
tion of  man,  into  one  vast  despotism  ; its  energies 
swayed  by  one  mind,  and  that  mind  filled  with 
exterminating  rage  toward  the  Christian  Church. 
But  I need  not  complete  the  picture.  It  is  enough 
for  us  to  know  that  there  is  little  in  early  Christ- 
ianity, of  which  we  regret  the  loss  ; that  there  is 
nothing  in  present  difficulties,  to  appall ; and  we 
have  everything  necessary,  in  the  outward  cir- 
6 


42 


cumstances  of  the  Church,  both  to  inspire  hope 
and  check  presumption.  There  is  but  one  thing 
wanting,  at  this  day,  in  connection  with  these  ad- 
vantages, which  the  ancient  Church  possessed  in 
a most  remarkable  degree,  to  ensure  the  most 
rapid,  wide-spread,  and  permanent  success — I re- 
fer to  the  devotion,  the  faith,  the  zeal,  with  which 
the  Church  herself  should  engage  in  this  work. 
It  is  true,  and  it  is  a truth  to  be  deeply  ponder- 
ed by  men  of  enlarged  minds,  who  may  be  skep- 
tical respecting  the  ultimate  triumph  of  our  re- 
ligion, that  in  no  period  of  the  world’s  history, 
has  there  existed  a greater  amount  of  intelligent, 
well-balanced,  devoted  piety,  than  in  this  age. 
With  all  the  corruptions  in  doctrine,  and  extrav- 
agance in  measures,  of  this  day,  before  us,  the  as- 
sertion is  hazarded,  that  religion  has  never,  on  the 
whole,  embraced  less  of  fanatacism,  more  of  intel- 
ligence, wealth,  and  enterprise,  than  at  this  mo- 
ment. Let  the  Church,  then,  but  awake  to  the 
vigorous  prosecution  of  the  great  object  before 
her,  and,  imitating  the  self-consecration  of  the 
early  Christians,  throw  herself  into  this  great  en- 
terprize,  with  all  her  vast  resources,  the  energy, 
divine  and  resistless,  will  be  infused  into  her  ex- 
ertions, and  the  day  of  triumph  will  quickly 
come.  In  the  formation  of  this  association,  as 
well  is  in  the  marshalling  of  the  Christian  host, 
abroad  through  the  world,  I behold  the  sign  of 
the  rise  of  that  spirit  which,  when  it  shall  gen- 
erally fill  the  heart,  and  waken  the  zeal  of  the  re- 


43 


newed  on  earth,  will  level  alike  the  throne  of  the 
despot,  and  the  time-cemented  superstitions  to 
which  they  cling ; before  which  the  Crescent  will 
wane  into  darkness,  the  funeral  pile,  and  bloody 
idols  of  the  Hindoo,  llee  away  ; the  intolerance, 
the  corruptions,  the  fierce  contentions  of  nominal 
Christendom,  vanish,  while  the  song  of  redemp- 
tion, which  it  first  breathed  forth  on  the  plains  of 
Bethlehem,  will  sw  ell  up,  in  grand  chorus,  from 
every  altar  and  temple,  every  cottage  and  palace, 
every  hill  and  vale.  The  voices  of  ten  thousand 
new-born  sons  of  Zion  fall  upon  my  ear  from  the 
isles  of  the  Pacific,  and  the  shores  of  India.  Hail 
them  as  the  prelude  of  that  universal  anthem, 
which  will  enwrap  the  world,  when  the  Gospel 
shall  illumine  every  dwelling,  and  kindle  the  fire 
of  a pure  religion  on  every  altar,  and  in  every 
heart  beneath  the  whole  heaven. 


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